A cross-national comparison of medicinal plants used by the Miao, Yi and Lisu ethnic groups in Yanbian, China

The Miao, Yi and Lisu ethnic groups all have traditional medicinal knowledge, and the unique climate and topography of Yanbian County make it rich in medicinal plants. So the exchange, collision and integration of medical cultures of ethnic minorities in Yanbian County have research signicance. The study compared and analyzed the similarities and differences in the traditional medicinal usage of the Miao, Yi and Lisu ethnic groups in Yanbian, to provide the basis for the traditional medicinal culture and characteristics of the three medical systems in southwest China. 36 sample plots were selected in this study and 5 sample quadrats were randomly set up in each plot to collect specimens. Identied the collected medicinal plant specimens, and sort out the catalog of medicinal plants of Miao medicine (MM), Yi medicine (YM) and Lisu medicine (LM) in Yanbian County. The catalog includes scientic name, family names, latin names, medicinal parts, and diseases treated, etc. The existing traditional doctors were interviewed to supplement the ecacy and usage of the medicinal plants in the catalog. Finally, the similarities and differences of the three medical systems were analyzed and sorted out the special medication in each ethnic group. of Metapanax delavayi (Franchet) J. Wen & Frodin is used for the treatment of throat sore, cough, indigestion, ascariasis, menstrual disorders, traumatic injuries, enteritis, and rheumatic bone pain; the whole plant of Peperomia tetraphylla (Forst. F.) Hooker et Arnott can treat rheumatic arthritis, traumatic injuries, and asthma.


Shared-use medicine
The sample plot and quadrat survey collected 778 medicinal plant specimens in total. Among them, 345 species of 299 genera and 109 families are used in MM, YM and LM, 206 species are used in MM, 247 species are used in YM, and 205 species are used in LM, and the shared-use medicinal plants of the three medical systems are 102. The situation of the shared-use medicinal plants in the three medical systems is shown in Fig. 3, and the information of shared-use medicine is shown in Table 1.
Among the investigated varieties, there are 35, 61, and 38 medicinal plants only belong to the MM, YM, and LM, accounting for 17%, 24.7% and 18.5% of all varieties used in the MM, YM and LM. The number of shared-use medicines in MM and YM, MM and LM, YM and LM were 146, 126, and 142 respectively, accounting for 32.2%, 30.9% and 31.4% of the total number of varieties used by the corresponding two medical systems. The JI of MM and YM, MM and LM, YM and LM are 47.6%, 44.7%, and 45.8%, respectively; the higher the JI is, the more similar the medicinal plant used in the two medical systems, indicating that the MM and YM have more shared-use medicine plants.

Family distribution
From the dominant 10 families of plants in the utilization rate (Table 2) and the heat map of the families of the medicins plants used in the three medical systems (Fig. 4), it can be seen that Miao, Yi, and Lisu commonly use the plants of 14  There are 102 shared-use medicines in the three medical systems, involving 66 families and 93 genera. Among the shared-use medicines, Compositae (14%) and Lamiaceae (6%) accounted for the dominant proportions (Fig. 5).

medicinal parts
The MM, YM and LM widely use whole plant or roots and rhizomes as medicine, caulis and lignum, folium, fruits and seeds, owers, cortexs, resin, phycomycete and plant oil are used rarely. The MM and YM are similar in the medicinal parts, while the LM is quite different from the other two medical systems (Fig. 6). Compared with the other two medical systems, the LM have fewer applications of roots and rhizome, caulis and lignum, whole plant and plant oils, and more for resin and phycomycete.

Disease treated and special usages
Compared with the other two medical systems, more medicines are used for the diseases of surgery, anorectal, orthopedics, stomatology, and infectious dept. in YM; more medicines are used for the diseases of ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology, but fewer medicines are used for the diseases of urological and infection in MM; fewer medicines are used for the diseases of obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, surgery, pediatrics, and stomatology in LM. In terms of the types of diseases treated, MM and YM are the most similar (Table 3, Fig. 7).
Partial information on the e cacy of medicinal plants obtained from interviews with key people are recorded in the Dictionary of Chinese Ethnic Medicine, but some are not recorded. The unrecorded informations may be the special usage of medical plants by local Miao, Yi, and Lisu doctors in Yanbian, involving the treatment of rheumatism, snake and insect bites, burns and scalds, cold, strokes and other diseases ( Table 4).

Comparison of medicinal
The raw data of the medicinal parts and diseases treated of the medicinal plants shared by every two medical systems are processed according to Table 5 [32], and cluster analysis was performed to obtain clustering analysis results ( Fig. 8-10) and the medicinal plants with the same e cacy in different medical systems.
The results of the comparison between the MM and YM peoples (Fig. 8) show that the 146 shared-use medicines, 4 kind of plants have the same medicinal parts and disease treated in the MM and YM: the whole plant of Eupatorium japonicum Thunb. is used for the treatment of postpartum lumbar pain and the root is used for the treatment of traumatic injuries; the whole plant of Senecio analogus Candolle can treat in uenza, headache, and pyrexia, hemiplegia, rheumatalgia, carbuncle sores, bacillary dysentery, indigestion distension syndrome, weak body physique due to longlasting diseases snd hemorrhage; the whole plant of Sagina japonica (Sw.) Ohwi. is used to treat dermatitis rhus and snake bites; the whole plant of Selaginella moellendor i Hieron. has a therapeutic effect on acute Icteric Hepatitis, phthisic hemoptysis, hemorrhoids, and burns, and scalds.
The results of the comparison between the MM and LM (Fig. 9) show that among the 126 shared-use medicines, 8 plants have the same medicinal parts and disease treated in the MM and LM: the root of Psammosilene tunicoides W. C. Wu et C. Y. Wu is used for the treatment of traumatic injuries, traumatic bleeding, and rheumatalgia; the root of D. asper Wallich ex Candolle can treat traumatic injuries, aching lumbus and knees, rheumatic bone pain and functional uterine bleeding; the tuber of Arisaema erubescens (Wall.) Schott is used to treat facial hemiplegia, epilepsy, infantile convulsion, wind-phlegm dizziness and painful swelling of the throat; the root of Scutellaria amoena C. H. Wright has a therapeutic effect on lung heat cough, diarrhea, acute conjunctivitis, jaundice, metrorrhagia and metro taxis; the cortex of Alnus nepalensis D. Don can treat bleeding knife wound, cold, headache, and rheumatic arthrodynia; the fruiting body of Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst. is useful for Neurasthenia and chronic bronchitis; the whole plant of Hemipilia abellata Bur. et Franch. is used for the treatment of low fever and lung dryness; the whole plant of Crotalaria ferruginea Grah. ex Benth. can treat tinnitus.
The results of the comparison between the YM and LM (Fig. 10) show that among the 142 shared-use medicines, 8 plants have the same medicinal parts and disease treated in the YM and LM: the root of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. is used for the treatment of edema; the tuber of A. konjac K. Koch can treat traumatic injuries and rheumatic arthrodynia; the rhizomes of Curcuma longa L. is used to treat Pectoral pain and menstrual disorders; the whole plant of Euphorbia sieboldiana Morr. et Decne. has a therapeutic effect on traumatic injuries and hemorrhage; the rhizomes of Paris marmorata Stearn can treat snake and insect bites, boils and sores, throat sore, and stomachache; the seed of Vernicia fordii (Hemsl.) Airy Shaw is useful for dyspeptic abdominal distention andScrofula mange; the whole plant of Metapanax delavayi (Franchet) J. Wen & Frodin is used for the treatment of throat sore, cough, indigestion, ascariasis, menstrual disorders, traumatic injuries, enteritis, and rheumatic bone pain; the whole plant of Peperomia tetraphylla (Forst. F.) Hooker et Arnott can treat rheumatic arthritis, traumatic injuries, and asthma.
In the clustering analysis results, among the shared-use medicines in MM and YM, MM and LM, YM and LM, the identity rate (The same medicinal plant has the same or similar uses in two medical systems, and the proportion of plants that meet this situation in the total number of the shareduse medicines in the two medical systems.) is 2.7%, 6.3%, 5.6%, the functional equivalents rate (Two different medicinal plants have the same effect in two medical systems and the proportion of plants that meet this situation in the total number of the shared-use medicines in the two medical systems.) is 43.2%, 39.4%, 39.4%, and the similarity percentage is 45.9%. 45.7%, 45%. The MM and YM have the highest similarity percentages, indicating that MM and YMare the most similar, and the two are more closely related.
By comparing the traditional medical systems of the three medical systems, this study found and sorted out 169 functional equivalents composed of 98 plants. See Table 6 for details.

Social status of informants
The seven key informants are all ethnic doctors who are well-known in ethnic minority settlements and still treat patients in Yanbian. And their medical skills come from the elders or self-learning through experience.

Family distribution
The 14 dominant plant families in the three medical systems, Polygonaceae, Campanulaceae, Rutaceae and Saxifragaceae are minor families, but many of them are used for medicinal purposes; Rubiaceae, Melastomataceae, Myrtaceae, and Apocynaceae contain many species but few are used for medicinal purposes. This is consistent with the results of our eld plant survey in Yanbian. The 14 dominant plant families in the three medical systems, except for Urticaceae and Solanaceae, the other 12 families have the largest number of plant species in Yanbian. The family distribution of plants uses in the three medical systems is basically in line with the vegetation in Yanbian. This is related to the medication of MM, YM and LM. They are good at obtaining local materials, widely using plants that easily available in the surrounding environment to treat diseases that often occur in the living environment, or adopting treatment methods adapted to the local environment [16].

Differences in the diseases treated
The Miao and Yi ethnic groups in Yanbian live on high mountains above 2000m altitude above sea level, and the terrain is steep. Most of them live on stocking pigs and goats, selling wild medicinal plants collected from high mountains, due to the living environment and lifestyle, they are easily injured by accident. The Lisu people live in relatively at hills, close to towns, and earn a living on doing business or working. Therefore, compared with LM, MM and YM have more medicines for surgical diseases and orthopedic diseases.
The Yi people in Yanbian have a special and single diet: pickles, cured meats, potatoes, and buckwheat cakes are the staple food, and they like to eat rough hard food, re-roasted food, and have a favor of salty food. They often grab food with their ngers, drinking and smoking frequently, eating the leftovers and keeping irregular eating habits. Such dietary structure and eating habits are particularly unfavorable for the gastrointestinal and oral cavity, causing oral problems easily and increasing the transmission rate of Helicobacter pylori in the population [33,34]. This may be the reason why Yi people have more drugs in the treatment of anal and rectal diseases, stomatology diseases, and infectious diseases.
Theintegral analysis of the three medical systems The reasons for the similarity in medications of different medical systems may be the following aspects [35]: The medicinal material does have obvious medicinal effects in a certain aspect. The geographical environment is widely shared, so the types of medicinal plants are similar. Interactions between different medical systems. While the reasons for the differences of the same medicine vary, it could be the following: Different lifestyles and habits. The persistence of each ethnic groups to their own traditional medical knowledge.
The ancestors of White Hmong moved to Yanbian from Zunyi, Guizhou in the 9th year of Hongwu in the Ming dynasty (1376), and the ancestors of Blue Mong moved to Yanbian during the Xianfeng period of Qing dynasty (1851~1864); the Miao nationality has its own language, which belongs to the Miao branch of the Hmong-Mien languages [17]. Most of the Yi people in Yanbian migrated from Daliang Mountain in the north, the earliest Yi people moved in Yanbian around the 13th year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1808). The Lisu moved to Yanbian from Lijiang, Yunnan Province in the south of China between the Daoguang (1821) and the Guangxu (1894) period of the Qing Dynasty. The Lisu originated from the ancient Di-Qiang ethnic group who migrated to the southern, and Lisu may belong to the same ethnic origin as the Yi [10,11], Its language belongs to the Tibetan-Burman language as the Yi.
In terms of ethnic origin and language, the Yi and Lisu peoples are closer and should be more conducive to cross-ethnic communication in the use of medicinal plants. However, in this study, regardless of the medicine plants, the medicinal parts, the diseases treated in the medical system, or the whole similarity percentage of the medical system, the YM and MM are closer. This is because the formation of the theoretical system of the national traditional medicine is a long-term process, and its development must be affected by many factors. Among these in uencing factors, the geographical environment is the strongest one [36]. In the long development process, the effect of geographical environment can overwhelm the in uence of ethnic origin. Ethnic minorities in China are generally distributed in the form of big inhabitation and small settlements. Sharing the same geographic environment, vegetation type and lifestyle are more conducive to exchanges between ethnic groups. The closer connection between living space and daily life may be the main reason why the MM is closer to the YM in their medicines than the LM in Yanbian.
Although the MM and YM have the highest similarity percentage (45.9%), there is not much difference in the similarity percentages of the three medical systems (MM and LM: 45.7%, YM and LM: 45%); and the three medical systems have a large number of shared-use medicines. This is because The three ethnic groups mixed live in Yanbian, in addition to using the plants around the environment of the small settlement, they also gather medicinal plants in resource-rich areas such as the Bailin Mountain (at the junction of Guosheng Township and Hongbao Township). In addition to the intersection of medicinal collection sites, Yanbian has a developed medicinal market due to its convenient transportation (Fig. 11). The MM, YM, and LM in Yanbian use single prescriptions frequently, while use formulas rarely. And they are accustomed to using fresh plants to treat diseases, some medicinal plants will be dried for later use, they seldom use processed medicinal materials. The Miao and Yi peoples are better at treating surgical diseases and orthopedic diseases, which are related to their high-altitude, steep and precarious living environment, and their lifestyle of grazing or gathering. The Yi people are good at treating anal and rectal diseases, stomatology diseases and infectious diseases, which are also related to their habits of eating rough hard food, re-roasted food and often drink and smoke. Among the three ethnic groups of Miao, Yi, and Lisu in Yanbian, the Miao and Yi have the same medical system. This is because the Miao and Yi people in Yanbian are more closely connected in terms of living space and daily life, which is more conducive to the exchange and integration of the two ethnic groups.
The computer-assisted cross-cultural comparative study on ethnic pharmacy can discover more intersections of different ethnic groups in understanding and using natural medicines. Table 6 lists the medicinal plants with the same therapeutic function in MM, YM and LM in Yanbian, these medicinal plants with the same function are of great signi cance and should be recorded in written form, which can be used as the basis for future research on new medicinal resources.
The knowledge of traditional medication of MM, YM and LM has been passed down from generation to generation, and has few written records. On one hand, the existing knowledge of traditional medicine of the local area is mastered by elders over 60 years of age with a lower level of education. Due to the extensive in uence of HM, the developed folk medicinal market in the region, the same medicinal material collection sites and the same living environment under the background of the big inhabitation and small settlement, the use of bulk medicinal materials are obviously converging, and a large number of medicinal materials are shared-use. On the other hand, with the development of urbanization and the improvement of the modern medical system in rural areas, the soil for the survival of ethnic medicine is being lost, and the inheritors of ethnic medicine are decreasing. If there is no ethnic medicinal clinic or hospital support in county-level regions, the existence of ethnic medicine will be weakened.

Declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate Yuan-chang Cheng, director of the Yanbian County Health Bureau, and the subordinate health centers were informed of this traditional knowledge investigation and participated in and assisted. Before the interview, the interviewee was introduced to the team members and the intention of the visit, and the interviewee's verbal consent was obtained. The authors have all copyrights.

Consent for publication
The informants orally approved their consent for the publications of the shared information and photos.

Availability of data and material
The analysed during the current study are available in the Dictionary of Chinese Ethnic Medicine repository.

Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding
This work was nancially supported by the fourth national survey on Chinese material medica resources.

Authors' contributions
Rui Gu and Shi-hong Zhong designed the study. Ke-ru Wang, Rong Ding, Nan-cuo and Ding-jian Hu collected data through eld investigation. Jing Lin participated in data compilation. Ke-ru Wang analyzed the data and compiled the manuscript. All authors read and approved the nal manuscript.    Table 4 The special usages Nation Special usages MM Soaking Asarum maximum Hemsl., Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Miq. ex Havil., Ligusticum sinense 'Chuanxiong' and Saposhnikovia divaricata (Turcz.) Schischk. In wine, drink the medicated wine to treat arthralgia.
Roasting the leaves of Ricinus communis L. on the re and apply on the affected area to treat headache and shoulder-neck pain.
Stale tea oral administration and external application to relieve the poison of centipede bites.
Using the whole plant of Glechoma longituba (Nakai) Kupr., U. rhynchophylla (Miq.) Miq. ex Havil. And the root or whole plant of Periploca sepium Bunge. to boil water, and use the water for bathing, which can treat rheumatism The pulp of Melia azedarach L. is ground into a powder and steamed with eggs to treat hemorrhoids.
Dry snakeskin, roasted until it is yellow and crisp, and then ground it into powder. Coating the affected area with rapeseed oil and sprinkle with snakeskin powder to treat herpes zoster.
The seeds of Amorphophallus konjac K. Koch are dried and ground into powder, sprinkled on steamed glutinous rice, mixed with lard and eaten to treat uterine prolapse.
Urine external application to relieve snake venom.

YM
The cortex of Crataegus pinnati da Bge. boiled into an ointment and applied it to the affected area to treat burns and scalds.
Using Phyllanthus emblica L., Lonicera japonica Thunb. and Cyrtomium fortunei J. Sm. to boil water, and take them orally to prevent colds and cure in uenza.
Using P. emblica L., the cortex of Citrus reticulata Blanco and Zingiber o cinale Roscoe to boil water, and take them orally to treat colds.
The folium of Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco is soaked in white vinegar and outer applying to treat intractable ringworm.
Smashing Dipsacus asper Wallich ex Candolle, Gonostegia hirta (Bl.) Miq., Ampelopsis and the root of Davallia trichomanoides Blume mix with wine, and apply external application to treat fractures The juice of Musella lasiocarpa (Franchet) C. Y. Wu ex H. W. Li or honey can relieve the toxicity of Aconitum carmichaelii Debeaux.
Igniting the thread is drawn from the Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaudich., cauterize on the vein to treat strokes.
Smashing the root of B. nivea (L.) Gaudich. and apply it to the affected area, with a hole in the middle can treat pustules.

LM
Sour things can detoxify, such as pickled cabbage soup can dispel the effects of alcohol and counteract toxicity.    Figure 1 A schematic of the study area. Note: The designations employed and the presentation of the material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Research Square concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This map has been provided by the authors. The Venn diagrams of medicines used in the three medical syetems The heat map of the families of the medicins plants used in the three medical syetems Figure 5 The family distribution of shared-use medicines of the three medical systems Figure 6 The heat map of medicinal parts used in the three medical systems The heat map of medicines used to treat various diseases in the three medical systems The cluster analysis dendrogram of the shared-use medicines of MM and YM

Figure 9
The cluster analysis dendrogram of the shared-use medicines of MM and LM Figure 10 The cluster analysis dendrogram of the shared-use medicines of MM and LM Figure 11 The medicinal materials market of Yanbian County